The generational rift that explains Democrats' angst over Israel

Age and ideology appear to be driving the split among Democrats.

Among Americans under the age of 30, 25 percent said they sympathize more with Israelis, 19 percent with Palestinians and 25 percent with both equally. The split was similar among those who described their ideology as liberal: 25 percent for the Israelis, 17 percent for the Palestinians and 31 percent said their sympathies were about equal.

The trend among Democrats and younger Americans has been clear over the past few years. A Gallup poll earlier this year — before the war — found support had reached a tipping point: For the first time in Gallup’s 20-plus-year trendline, more Democrats sympathized with Palestinians than Israelis, driven in large part by the younger elements of the party’s membership.

The rapidity of the movement was striking. Democrats sided with the Israelis by a 30-point margin in 2016 — a 41-point margin swing in just seven years.
There’s been similar movement among younger Americans in the Gallup poll. Five years ago, millennials, defined by Gallup as those born between 1980 and 1999, were 32 points more sympathetic toward Israelis than Palestinians. Earlier this year, they were evenly divided.